


Memories and Aesthetics

by TheEigthPillarGeneral



Series: Black Moon [25]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, M/M, Photo Shoots, Touring, Visual Kei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 20:52:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16709836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEigthPillarGeneral/pseuds/TheEigthPillarGeneral
Summary: Renji gets a surprise after a show in Hachioji, his hometown, in the form of his family coming to see him. Byakuya learns something about Renji's family from Rukia.





	Memories and Aesthetics

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/gifts), [Josey (cestus)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestus/gifts).



> This chapter was partly inspired by this photo shoot of Kamijo from Versailles Philharmonic Quintet (https://officialjrocksupportblog.tumblr.com/post/168055110222/kamijo-versailles-vocalist). 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“Great work, you guys!” Yoruichi praised as Renji and his bandmates entered the dressing room. “What’d you think of it?”

Renji grinned. “Felt great to be back in my hometown again,” he said.

“Yeah, it sounded like the crowd was going wild especially for you,” Ichigo said, patting Renji’s shoulder.

They’d just finished their second show at the Olympus Hall in Hachioji, which had been just as successful as their first show yesterday. Renji had felt really honoured to be playing in Hachioji, which hadn’t really changed at all.

The Olympus Hall was just as impressive as the Yokosuka Arts Theatre; it was just as elegant and classy, and the sound had been so rich. And the crowd had been just as passionate and energetic as they had been last night and at Yokosuka.

As Renji wiped down his forehead with a towel, Yoruichi approached. “By the way, there’s someone who wants to see you,” she said, a small smile on her face as she led him to the door of the dressing room.

Renji raised an eyebrow. “Do I know them?” he asked.

Yoruichi laughed. “Of course you do!” she said. “Here you go.”

She opened the door and Renji was met with the biggest surprise he’d ever gotten. Waiting outside for him were an older man and woman he’d always recognize, thanks to the tattoos they sported.

“Takuya-san? Junko-san?” Renji said, stunned. They were two of the people who had raised him when he was a kid.

Junko immediately pulled Renji in for a hug. “Oh, look at you, Renji!” she said, her voice thrilled. “You’ve grown so much!”

“That was a great show you gave. Pretty badass,” Takuya praised, clapping his shoulder.

Renji felt thrilled to hear their praise. “I… I had no idea you guys came for the show!” he said as he pulled away from the hug. He then glanced into the hallway. “Where are the others? Hayate-san, Yuka-san, Sayaka-san, Naoki-san, did they not show up?”

“They came, don’t worry,” Junko reassured him. “But your manager told us that she couldn’t allow all of us at once.”

“You can go out and see them if you want,” Yoruichi told him with a smile.

Renji smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks so much,” he said. “Mind taking a few pictures of us?”

“Sure thing!” Yoruichi said.

After quickly introducing Takuya and Junko to his bandmates, Renji went out of the dressing room to see the rest of his family. On the way, Renji caught up with Takuya and Junko, telling them about his activities with Black Moon and his career so far. Both of them listened to his stories, feeling proud at how far he’d come along.

“Right from the moment you started playing guitar, I knew you had talent,” Takuya was telling him. “And look at you! Playing the big halls with your band and releasing albums… you’ve come a long way, Renji.”

“Did you like the album?” Renji asked.

“Of course!” Junko said sincerely. “It sounds absolutely wonderful!” She chuckled. “Brings back memories, you know? Of the summer nights when we used to play Zaraki Kenpachi, Marilyn Manson, Unohana Yachiru, and X Japan and party like it was the 1980’s.”

“Good times,” Takuya agreed with a laugh.

When he saw Yuka, Hayate, and the rest of his family, Renji was met with hugs and thrilled praises of how well he did. Yoruichi also took pictures, like she’d promised. Renji didn’t really have too long, since he had to change clothes, wash off the makeup, and then head to the hotel for some sleep before the trip to Misato tomorrow, but it didn’t matter.

“We’ll have to meet up again one day,” Hayate told him, ruffling his hair. “Remember that, will you, Renji?”

“I’ll do my best,” Renji promised as he turned to head to the dressing room with Yoruichi.

“Good luck with the rest of your tour!” Yuka called as she left with the others.

“Thank you!” he called back.

When they reached the dressing room, Renji washed off the makeup and got changed into his regular clothes. As he packed up his things, Shuuhei approached him.

“So, those people are your family?” he asked.

“Yep,” he said. “Not by blood, but they’re still family, of course.”

Junko and Takuya were two freelance artists who a bar in Hachioji and lived in the apartments above it along with Yuka and Hayate, a pair of glassblowers, and Sayaka and Naoki, a pair of tattoo artists. Those three couples were actually polyamorous, so everyone was basically dating everyone.

Growing up with them had been so much fun. They were all so supportive and nurturing, always encouraging his talents and hobbies and supporting him no matter what. They’d taught Renji to be comfortable with who he was and to never feel ashamed of doing something he loved.

Upon arriving at his room in the hotel, Renji took a quick shower and got ready for bed. He then quickly pulled his laptop out and prepared to make a new post for his blog. This time, he added the photos of him and his family that Yoruichi had sent him before writing the post.

 

 

 

> _Great work, Hachioji! You guys did awesome these two nights at the Olympus Hall, so thank you very much!_
> 
> _After tonight’s show, my family came by to see me and say congratulations. Seeing them after the show was pretty exciting, especially getting hugs from them and hearing them tell me how proud they are. It felt like I was coming home after a long time, just walking into the apartment after school and being welcomed with the sound of X Japan on the radio, the smell of homemade shabu shabu, and hearing them ask me how my day was. While we may not be related by blood, I can’t imagine life without them. They’ve always encouraged my dreams and supported me when I told them that I wanted to be a rockstar, and I don’t know where I would be without them. Thanks so much, you guys!_
> 
> _Even though this tour has barely gotten started yet, I feel like I’ve come a long way already. Funny how meeting my folks has made me feel that way, huh?_
> 
> _That being said, tomorrow we head to Misato, so let’s get wild and have fun, shall we? Bring on the night!_

With that, Renji hit ‘post’ and closed his laptop before heading to bed. Sending a quick text to Byakuya about the live and to tell him good night, Renji set his alarm, turned off the light and settled down to go to sleep.

* * *

Since the release of ‘Hakuteiken’, Byakuya had been doing a lot of things to promote the album further. He’d established his presence online with a Twitter and Instagram account for himself, and had Nejibana do the same. In addition, most of the things he was doing were interviews, one of which was for _Rock & Read, _and another for Vizards TV. And surprisingly, he also received a request for an interview from a French fansite that focused on him and his music.

Today was Byakuya’s photoshoot for _Cure,_ and it was vastly different from his very first one. This time, it was somewhat similar to Renji’s photoshoot from the June issue.

Just like how Renji had been implied to be naked and in water for that shoot, Byakuya would also be hinting at nudity under the water in this photoshoot. It was to take place in an ornate bathtub surrounded by candles, meant to capture his aesthetic as a seductive, sensual nobleman. And surprisingly, Byakuya honestly had no problem with it. He was comfortable with his body and felt no need to be ashamed of it; perhaps Renji’s own confidence had rubbed off on him.

Not to mention, there was something quite sexy about the photoshoot itself. Byakuya couldn’t wait to be able to tease Renji with a photo from it, just like how Renji had teased him and the fans with that preview photo on his blog.

He’d arrived at the studio early enough to get ready for the photoshoot. As he entered the studio, he gave a nod of greeting to some of the staff before heading to the dressing room to get ready. The stylist wasn’t here yet, but that was fine.

Entering the dressing room, Byakuya shut the door and went behind one of the changing curtains for privacy. He stripped out of his clothes and underwear before putting on a pair of nude-coloured underwear and then slipping a gray silk bathrobe over his body. He then stepped out and went to the couch with his phone to check through Twitter while waiting.

Byakuya scrolled idly through the usual things on his timeline: promos, concert dates, album release dates, the usual. His most recent tweet, a simple shot of his left hand upon the piano keys and the music sheets on the stand with a caption of ‘playing my favourite classical: Piano Sonata No.2, Marche funèbre: Lento by Chopin’ had already racked up a lot of likes and retweets. Scrolling past a selfie of Orihime with a cup of raspberry hot cocoa, he got to Black Moon’s official account, which had recently posted a tweet thanking Hachioji for their show at the Olympus Hall. Retweeting that, he scrolled down and saw tweets from Ichigo, Chad, and Toshiro also thanking the fans and letting them know that they were on their way to Misato.

Black Moon had also posted links to Renji and Shuuhei’s blogs, and Byakuya briefly wondered why Renji didn’t get a Twitter or Instagram before he tapped on the link for Renji’s blog.

It took a few minutes to load, but it loaded fasted enough. The first thing Byakuya saw was a photo of Renji, still in his ‘Gomi Tame’ outfit and makeup, and doing rock-n-roll hands with a group of three older men and three older women, all of them as tough-looking and heavily tattooed as Renji was. Yet in spite of such rough appearances, they had smiles as infectious as Renji’s. Scrolling down, Byakuya saw two more photos of them before reading what Renji had written.

So this was the family that Renji had grown up with?

These people seemed quite friendly, to be honest. Briefly, Byakuya wondered what it would’ve been like to have grown up with people like them. And reading what Renji said about them and how seeing them again was like coming home from school… he could only imagine what that felt like. He’d never felt anything like that when he was a child.

He had to ask Renji and Rukia just what it was like to grow up with them at some point. And perhaps, he could ask him if he could meet these people.

Right then, the stylist entered the dressing room and greeted Byakuya. “You’re all ready, I assume?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” he said.

“Great! Why don’t you come on over and I’ll do your makeup and hair?” she said, removing her jacket and scarf.

Byakuya got up and went to the mirror, sitting down before it as the stylist turned on the mirror lights and got her makeup ready.

It was quite impressive how fast the stylist worked on his makeup and hair. Within a short while, Byakuya had become the captivating and sensual nobleman, ready to charm and seduce the fans with this photoshoot. His eyes looked a lot sharper thanks to the black eyeliner, his lips looked so soft and tempting from the pale lipstick, and the faint rosy colour on his cheeks made him look all the more alluring. And the fact that his hair was flowing freely just made it all the more seductive.

And after putting on some silver rings on the index, middle, and ring fingers of both hands, two silver bracelets on both wrists, and a silver cross necklace around his neck, Byakuya had finished.

“You ready, Byakuya-kun?” the stylist asked.

“Yes, I am,” Byakuya said.

“Good! They’re just finishing things up and they should be ready in a few moments,” she told him.

“Thank you.”

Standing up, Byakuya took his phone and a towel and went into the studio, where the set had already been laid out and arranged.

A white and gold clawfoot bathtub had been set up and already filled with water and a light layer of foam on the surface. Arranged around the back of the tub were tall gold candle holders, each one holding a thick white already-lit candle. The rest of the set was meant to resemble a Baroque-style bathroom. With a chandelier hanging above and an ornate painting upon the deep-red wall behind, it appeared quite classy.

Right then, the photographer, a man by the name of Eishima Shinobu, approached Byakuya. “Good, you’re here, Byakuya-kun!” he said. “Let’s get started. Mind removing your robe and slowly getting into the tub?”

Byakuya nodded as he approached the tub and untied his bathrobe, letting it slide off his body before he gave it to one of the assistants. He then slowly climbed into the bathtub, trying not to make any water spill as he settled down.

The water was warm and came up to his chest, and the foam also covered his lower body quite well.

“Great, now position your arms on the lip of the tub,” Eishima told him. “Now, do a seductive expression for the camera, will you?”

Byakuya did so, letting his arms rest on the sides of the tub. He then let some of his hair fall in front of the left side of his face as he tilted his chin down and leveled his gaze to the camera, then parted his lips ever so slightly to draw attention to them.

“Perfect, that’s perfect! Now hold that pose!”

He did so as the cameras flashed. After a couple more flashes, Eishima gave him the next instructions.

“Now sit up slightly, raise your hands over your head a little, and tilt your chin upwards,” he said.

Sitting up, Byakuya held his arms up and let his hands and upper arms stay above his head. He then tilted his chin upwards a little and regarded the camera with the same seductive expression, slightly parting his lips again. Eishima praised him again before taking the photos.

“You’re doing great, Byakuya-kun,” he praised.

He moved the camera to Byakuya’s right side and gave him more instructions.

This time, Byakuya rested his elbows on the sides of the bathtub and folded his hands before letting his head lean back a little bit. He parted his lips a little bit more as he gazed at the camera with his piercing yet sensual eyes.

As the cameras flashed again, Byakuya had to admit, he was really liking this photoshoot. Yes, he knew that he was selling a fantasy of sorts, but he wouldn’t lie; it was all part of the appeal. And thinking about what Renji would say when he saw the photos, he couldn’t wait to hear about his reaction. His heart was beating a little faster against his chest as he thought of Renji looking at these photos.

Byakuya felt… he felt pretty. He felt sensual. He felt very, _very_ sexy right now.

Just thinking about it made the tiniest of smiles tug at the corners of his lips, something that Eishima told him to keep as he continued taking pictures.

The photoshoot eventually came to an end and Byakuya was praised by Eishima, who promised to send him a photo to use as a preview in the coming days. After drying himself off and putting his bathrobe on, Byakuya went into the dressing room and removed all the jewelry before washing off the makeup and rinsing his body.

Getting changed back into his regular clothes, Byakuya then made a tweet about the photoshoot: 

> _Just finished my photoshoot for the January issue of_ Cure. _I hope everyone looks forward to it._

Of course, within minutes of posting, the tweet was getting replies along the lines of ‘aaaahhhh can’t wait!!!’ and ‘love you, Bya-kun!’.

After sending a text to his driver, Byakuya waited outside the studio and watched the snow fall. As he waited, he thought about speaking with Rukia about the family she grew up with, so he pulled his phone out and dialed Rukia’s number.

“What’s up, Nii-sama?” she answered, having picked up the phone on the second ring.

“I’d like to come over to talk this evening,” he said. “Would that be alright?”

“Oh, sure! I mean, I was gonna watch a movie tonight, but yes, it’s alright!” Rukia said, her voice surprised yet pleased.

“Thank you,” Byakuya said. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“See you too!”

When the call ended, Byakuya put his phone away just as his driver pulled up.

* * *

The sky had already grown dark when Byakuya had arrived at Rukia’s apartment in the evening. Knocking on the door, he waited patiently before Rukia appeared, opening the door and welcoming him inside.

“Come in, Nii-sama,” she encouraged.

Byakuya stepped inside and removed his shoes and jacket, which he hung up on a rack. When he entered the main room of the apartment, he saw that Rukia’s TV had been turned on and currently displayed the main menu of the movie _Alien,_ to his surprise.

“You’re watching _Alien?”_ Byakuya asked, glancing at Rukia as she made her way to the couch and set down a mug of tea in front of him.

“Yeah, this is the Director’s Cut,” Rukia said. “I like this movie but Renji prefers _Aliens._ Then again, he’s always preferred action movies. Have you seen this?”

Byakuya shook his head. “No, actually,” he said. “I did hear that it’s quite good, though. Then again, horror movies have never really interested me, but I suppose I could watch this one.”

Rukia smiled. “How’d your photoshoot go today?” she asked.

“It went well. I have to admit, I look forward to hearing Renji’s reaction to it,” Byakuya said, his eyes glinting slightly.

A chuckle slipped from Rukia. “By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.

“Right, yes,” Byakuya remembered. “Recently, Renji posted a photo on his blog with some people he called his ‘family’.” He pulled out his phone and found the post in question, showing it to Rukia.

Upon seeing this, Rukia smiled, her eyes softening as fond memories came back to her. “Oh wow, it’s been so long since I last saw them,” she said. “I really have to call them so we can talk one day.”

“Renji told me that he grew up with them, and that you knew them,” Byakuya said. “What was that like?”

Again, Rukia smiled as she leaned back into the couch. “Best days of my life,” she said. “Junko-san and Takuya-san were family friends of both my parents and Renji’s parents, and they both lived together with two other couples. In fact, they were actually polyamorous.”

She chuckled at the surprised look on Byakuya’s face. “Yeah, they took Renji in after his parents died and they’ve been his family since then,” she said. “I really liked hanging out with them. They never made us feel ashamed of anything, they were very encouraging, and well… life with them was never boring, let’s just say that! Even though Hisana-nee and I didn’t live with them, we always hung out with them when we saw Renji.”

Byakuya listened as Rukia continued speaking.

“See, Junko-san and Takuya-san are freelance artists who own a bar,” Rukia said. “Yuka-san and Hayate-san are glassblowers, and Sayaka-san and Naoki-san are tattoo artists. And when you get a whole ton of artists and creative people, all of whom are tattooed and very loud and passionate, things always got pretty damn crazy sometimes.”

“I do remember Renji saying that they often solved their problems with their fists,” Byakuya recalled.

Rukia laughed. “Yeah, pretty much,” she said. “They never took anyone’s shit, especially from anyone who acted superior to them. One time in middle school, when I got into trouble for punching a guy who was harassing me, Junko-san and Takuya-san showed up with my parents and basically threatened the asshole with arrest if they ever harassed me again. Yuka-san taught me some karate for self-defense as well. Renji learned a bit of karate and kickboxing from Yuka-san and Naoki-san too.”

Again, Byakuya listened to her, almost fascinated.

“They sound like really good people,” Byakuya observed. “I wish I could’ve grown up with someone like them.” His voice was sincere.

“I think they’d love to meet you, actually,” Rukia said.

They were silent for a moment. Then, Rukia tentatively picked up the remote. “Would… Would you like to start watching the movie with me?” she asked.

“I would, thank you,” Byakuya said.

Rukia pressed ‘play’ and the movie started.

As Byakuya settled back into the couch, he watched the credits before glancing at Rukia. “What’s this movie about?” he asked.

“Okay, so it’s in the future,” Rukia began. “Basically, the crew of this commercial spaceship pick up an SOS signal from a distant moon. However, after landing, they discover too late that the signal was a warning and not a call for help, and they leave after one of the crew members is attacked. But,” Rukia let her voice get slightly ominous, “unknown to them, an alien stowaway has snuck aboard the ship.” She smiled after finishing her summary.

Byakuya nodded. “So it’s sci-fi?”

“Sci-fi and horror,” Rukia corrected.

The movie started and Byakuya watched the scenes with a mild interest. So far, the story was pretty interesting and the set design was quite good. However, the moment the crew discovered the derelict on the planet, Byakuya felt himself tensing up a little bit. The atmosphere was quite eerie, after all.

He had an inkling that something was going to happen when one of the crew members discovered the eggs. And sure enough, Byakuya startled slightly when the facehugger sprung out from the egg and latched onto the man’s face.

“What the hell…?”

Rukia couldn’t hide her smile at Byakuya’s reaction. “Well, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she told him.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at that.

As it turned out, Rukia was right. He really hadn’t seen anything yet.

During the scene when the crew was having their last dinner, Byakuya again felt like something was going to happen. He just did not expect… _that._

His eyes widened in complete shock when an alien creature literally burst out of the crew member’s chest, spraying blood everywhere.

Rukia also looked vaguely disturbed. “You know, I accidentally walked in on Junko-san and Yuka-san watching _Alien_ when I was five… right at the chestburster scene,” she said with a light laugh. “God, I got so freaked out that I refused to eat for a while!”

“Well, I can imagine,” Byakuya said, still very stunned at the scene.

“But you still haven’t seen anything yet, Nii-sama,” Rukia added, a small glint in her eyes.

He only hoped she was just teasing him right now.

* * *

It had been a long day for signing autographs, but it was finally over. And right now, Renji was tired.

Misato was a nice city, Renji had to admit. Even though night was falling and the weather was colder, he’d decided to just take an evening walk after dinner, and he now found himself at the Saitama Prefectural Park. The sun was well below the horizon, the remnants of the fiery-orange slowly fading upwards into an inky-blue sky. The rest of the park was silent and mostly empty, but that was fine.

As he walked through the park, he felt his phone vibrating in the pocket of his black winter coat. Renji slid his glove off and reached into his pocket to answer his phone.

“Hello?”

“No ‘babe’ this time?” Byakuya’s voice was somewhat teasing.

Renji smiled. “Hey, Byakuya,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Nothing much has happened. How’s Misato?”

“It’s a nice city. Kinda cold right now, but it’s manageable.”

There was a small pause before Byakuya continued speaking. “I saw your recent post from your performance in Hachioji,” he said. “Those people in the photo, they’re your family?”

A fond smile crossed Renji’s face. “Yep,” he said. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to come for the show. It was a nice surprise… though it’s a little embarrassing when I remember that they would’ve watched me grinding on my guitar and flirting with Ichigo, Shuuhei, and Chad. Not exactly things you’d want your folks seeing!” He laughed. “But they’re not too upset by it, so it’s all good.”

He heard Byakuya chuckle on the other end. “They seem like nice people,” he said. “Even though they look as rough as you do.”

“They’re awesome people,” Renji said. “You wanna meet them one day?”

“That would be nice, yes. I’d like to get to know them.”

“Great. When I come back from tour, or maybe in the few-days break, I’ll try and introduce you to them,” Renji promised.

There was another pause before Byakuya spoke. “I miss you,” he said sincerely.

“I miss you too,” Renji told him. “But I might be able to see you after December 26th, you know?”

“Yes,” Byakuya said. “You know, it’s getting late. You should go back and get some rest for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Renji said, heading to the exit of the park. “Was just heading back to the hotel now.”

On the walk to the hotel, they spoke a little bit longer.

“So, what else did you do today?” Renji asked.

“Rukia showed me her favourite movie, which turned out to be _Alien,”_ Byakuya said, to Renji’s amusement.

“And? Did you like it?” he asked.

“It was interesting, but ultimately horrifying,” Byakuya said. “I don’t think I’d want to rewatch someone having an alien burst out of his chest.”

Renji laughed.

After a while, they ended the conversation shortly before Renji arrived at the hotel. Byakuya had a meeting tomorrow and he needed to rest up, so he’d wished Renji good night and good luck for tomorrow’s show.

When Renji reached at his hotel room, he had a warm shower and got ready for bed.

He then made a quick good night post on his blog, writing: 

> _I look forward for tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see everyone. Good night, Misato!_

Posting it, Renji closed his laptop and then climbed into bed, turning off the lights and settling down for sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, Renji being from Hachioji is a reference to his Japanese voice actor, Itou Kentarou, being from Hachioji as well. I'm also having a lot of feels about the Alien franchise (for me, _Alien_ , _Aliens_ , and _Alien: Isolation_ are the only canon works; Alien 3 and Resurrection don't exist at all, thank you very much), hence why I made one of Rukia's favourite movies _Alien_.
> 
> The Olympus Hall is a concert hall in Hachioji, Tokyo. It has a capacity for up to 2,021 people.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


End file.
